Tour de Nez

I'm taking the day off and helping with handcycle racers coming to our rehab hospital tomorrow. They're in town for the National Championships being held with the Tour de Nez this weekend. I want to show the patients we have here (and the therapists) that there are mobility options for them, aside from manual or electric wheelchairs.
Friday evening, I'm going to downtown Reno to help with the racers and bringing my folks to help; they popped in to visit us this weekend and I told 'em they'll have to lend a hand!

Bicycle advocacy

Next Wednesday, I'm planning on attending the local Bicycle/Pedestrian Action Committee supported by our local transportation department.
I want to discuss, in addition to recent advertising the local police enforcement of cyclists following traffic laws, that there needs to be PSAs instructing motorists and cyclists as to where cyclists need to stop to activate traffic lights. If we're expected to operate as vehicles on the roadways, we should be utilizing the roadways to our utmost. Point One.

Point Two is, these locations in the roadways need to be better marked by the local municipalities. Either by bike silhouettes, or by some contrasting color of sealant in the ground when inground sensors are placed, especially following chipsealing of roadbeds.
Actually, both things need to happen, as cyclists should be aware of where to stop for activating camera operated traffic signals.

Also, I'm looking forward to meeting up with the local coordinator for Bicycle Trains to School at that meeting. She's apparently on the minutes as giving a presentation to the committee.

Da-a-a-ng, do you have spare street grates in your garage?
What'd you do with the original grate? And sorry, but you
missed one, the curbside grate needs deflection bars as
well. Don't mean to be the one telling you you have spinach
in your teeth, but....

Nice pruning job, but I really think you should have left the
branches in the open lot next to the sidewalk.

Handcycle advocacy

So we had several racers competing in the handcycle races this week come in to our hospital with their rigs and talk about their use.
We had a decent turnout of employees, a group of young kids from a summer day camp with the City of Reno were there, as one of the hosts was responsible for the City's adaptive sports equipment rental program and was plugging her wares. We had 12 handcycles and 8 competitors as well as a regional coordinator for the National Handcycling Assn. and a rep from the Paralyzed Veterans of America. A couple of people had come up from LA, several were from Northern California and we even had a few from Northern Nevada.
I got to ride this one guy's German racing rig...sweeeet. Incredibly fast and I wasn't even able to figure out how to pump and shift gears, I stayed in whatever midrange sprocket he had it on. Someone else had a German carbon monocoque race rig, but I held both and I think the aluminum cycle was lighter.

Everyone of the employees I spoke to enjoyed the bikes and the racers were all very, very nice people.

Da-a-a-ng, do you have spare street grates in your garage?
What'd you do with the original grate? And sorry, but you
missed one, the curbside grate needs deflection bars as
well. Don't mean to be the one telling you you have spinach
in your teeth, but....

No, I don't have spares... I'd love to though (mostly 24" square grates). I didn't miss the curbside grate, that's the one that was in the roadway. It's not a perfect fix, but IMHO it's a lot better.

Originally Posted by Leo H.

Nice pruning job, but I really think you should have left the
branches in the open lot next to the sidewalk.

What? You can't see the clump of branches in the background (under the brown sign)? I'm sure the park's landscaping crew will clear it soon.

I saw the clump in both pics, but it didn't look to me like a pile of branches and leaves.
No your grate fix was fine and if they had any problems, they could have shown you how
it's supposed to be done, if they felt it was important enough to do that.

Tired from marshalling 3 races at TdN. 1 handcycle criterium and 1 amateur cycling
mens criterium and then a women's criterium. Reallly bad crash in the women's race
just next to us as they were coming in to the finish stretch. 2 riders in an ambulance
and a few road rashed up.
I not only got my folks to help, they got signed up to marshal as well! They had a fun
time and got the t-shirt and souvenir water bottle to show for it. My dad even got to
assist with the one racer who got c-collared and backboarded off the street.
What I did on my summer vacation....

Cycling options offered

I made copies of homepages for various tandems suitable for a disabled rider, for a patient at the hospital I work at.

He had expressed an interest in riding again after his injury heals and I wanted him to know, no matter what his final physical endpoint, there are options available.
Made copies for Performer tandem, Hase, Bilenky, Draisin and Lightning's sociable.

The wife was there and they were tickled to see what I offered. Not surprising, but they had no idea of these configurations and were actively talking about the various models when I left.
Also pointed out that Craigslist contains these sorts of vehicles often.

Goathead relief?

Well, we'll see if it does that, but I just found out our State Agriculture department has a noxious weed report form: http://agri.nv.gov/PLANT_NoxWeedComplaintForm.htm and that puncture vine (goathead, caltrop plant) is one of the plants listed where a property owner will be notified they must clear the plant and how to do it. Thistles too.

I did something that I think is pretty important. I work for at a grocery store and I commute to work. I have noticed, in the time that I have been working there, that there are several regular bike-shoppers. The store had no bike rack, so you either had to lock your bike to a handicap sign or leave it inside, unlocked. Luckily, I get to keep my bike inside while I'm working. When I rolled in for my shift today I noticed a new addition; a bike rack! and one of the good ones too! It's those wavy ones, I'm not sure if they have a name. They even have it orientated correctly (perpendicular to the wall rather than parallel.) Apparently, my email to corporate got bike racks installed in the 11 store locations in my city. I'm so excited~!

I did something that I think is pretty important. I work for at a grocery store and I commute to work. I have noticed, in the time that I have been working there, that there are several regular bike-shoppers. The store had no bike rack, so you either had to lock your bike to a handicap sign or leave it inside, unlocked. Luckily, I get to keep my bike inside while I'm working. When I rolled in for my shift today I noticed a new addition; a bike rack! and one of the good ones too! It's those wavy ones, I'm not sure if they have a name. They even have it orientated correctly (perpendicular to the wall rather than parallel.) Apparently, my email to corporate got bike racks installed in the 11 store locations in my city. I'm so excited~!

I think you did do that. Congratulations! I got one installed at a drugstore I was working at, but that was just at one store not 11! I hope you plan to send a follow up thank you up the food chain somewhere? (Seriously, no pun intended)

I think you did do that. Congratulations! I got one installed at a drugstore I was working at, but that was just at one store not 11! I hope you plan to send a follow up thank you up the food chain somewhere? (Seriously, no pun intended)

Good job.

I think I'll just send a thank you email, I'm not sure what else I could do, besides continuing to show up for work of course ;D

I think I'll just send a thank you email, I'm not sure what else I could do, besides continuing to show up for work of course ;D

I was just thinking about how the little effort that you can put out to acknowledge the folks who listened to you, would go far to reinforce a positive image for cyclists and maybe, just make some folks a little warmer feeling about responding to requests from the trenches.

I do it anyway, but it feels really nice to almost EVERY time I've called a business up to compliment an employee, whether it's bicycle related or not, I hear, 'thanks for saying something nice, all we ever hear are complaints'. It only reinforces, for me, to take the time to say thank you for someone who wouldn't normally expect to hear it.

Safety Information

I picked up some more bicycle maps, and safety booklets a state agency puts out to support cycling. (SPIN, Safe Pedaling In Nevada) I pass them out to folks I see riding who might be receptive to riding better, smarter and safer.

The booklets are credit card sized pages, they have the state regulations as to what is and is not allowed as a bicyclist, tips on riding safely, an address to send reports on motorist who cause riders problems, and so forth. There is also a version geared for kids, but I am trying to contact someone to have copies made in Spanish as well.

The bicycle maps have the Reno/Sparks area, north half on one side, south half on the other, with bike lanes, routes and paths marked in different colors, as well as helpful bicycling markers.

If I could, I'd like to see someone (again, a TRUE Advocacy and Safety feature), have a site where people from the different communities upload such local offerings in order to compare and contrast and make better what they have. It would also be a place for riders in areas that don't have active safety organizations, to create something they can use.

Last, But Not Least...

Been tied up lately, but still fighting the fight. Monday, I testified at a public hearing about eliminating some on-street parking and adding bike lanes to a local connector street here in Beaverton. I was the last person to get to add my voice to the record, which is fine, as each of the people who argued against adding them gave me fodder for explaining why it was important to go ahead and add them.

The road is SW Lombard, Beaverton, Oregon (between SW Farmington Rd, and SW Denny). Portions of the road are only wide enough for 11 foot auto lanes, and 5 foot bike lanes, and parking is already prohibited. Others are wide enough for parking on one side of the street as well as the 11ft and 5ft lanes. It is one of the few N/S connectors in Beaverton, near the Downtown core of the city.

The arguments against the lanes:

Poor cyclists behavior

Cyclists would impede emergency vehicles (as if parked cars would get out of the way)

Bikes would slow down traffic (at the same time they were griping about high speed traffic)

Poor visibility of cyclists

Difficulty backing up out of driveways with cyclists getting hit. (WHAT?!)

Level of use. i.e "I never see any cyclists use the road"

How another nearby ARTERIAL road (SW Hall) already has bike lanes.

Cost of installing (estimated $50,000.00 for 1 mile of paint).

Difficulty for bikes/buses interactions.

Why not build a MUP paralleling the Railroad/WES line and SW Lombard.

Bikes don't pay taxes/aren't licensed/educated.

Holiday/Party guests would be put at risk having to cross the street.
AND...

"My property value will drop"

My points:

Much of the area already has no parking, why not paint the lines?

Poor behavior is universal (cars just hurt/kill more people). You don't not build roads because of poor driver behavior.

Cyclists can see and hear. So, they can get out/off of the road when emergency vehicles are approaching (parked cars can't).

Bike lanes prevent cyclists being forced into the lane to go around parked cars.

It was a public hearing, so no decision has been made. I don't know when the city council will make their decision. Overall, the cyclists were thrilled, and one homeowner was overheard saying I should be "squished" during the last round of public comment.

It was a public hearing, so no decision has been made. I don't know when the city council will make their decision. Overall, the cyclists were thrilled, and one homeowner was overheard saying I should be "squished" during the last round of public comment.

Thank you, K'Tesh. If you didn't start and keep this thread moving along, I'd be doing what I'm doing by myself. Which is fine, but MAYbe, if someone else reads this thread, a-hem the only ADVOCACY thread IN A&S, they might talk about what they're doing or get an idea of what they can do in their community, which is how things get better all 'round the country.
Kind of that 'lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness' vibe.

Leo H.
Sun Valley, NV

It's really great to see all the awesome things you're doing for cyclists in your area, but the font and colors you're using are really tough to read. Maybe stick with the defaults...please?

Originally Posted by colombo357

Hey you need to put on the bar tape. Please promise me via PM that you will put on the bar tape, because if you don't, you won't have any bar tape on your bars, and that'd be bad because you're supposed to have bar tape on your bars where the bar tape goes.

I served on the advisory board of the mayor's cycling safety task force, which was created to address safe cycling issues in the wake of three cyclists killed here last summer.

Piloted a tandem in the National Federation for the Blind's annual "Cycle for Independence" ride.

Other than that, I ride my bicycle for transportation day in and day out, year after year, in good weather and bad, and try to set a good example by riding in a lawful, predictable, and defensive manner.

Problem on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway...

Cyclists were disappointed when ODOT resurfaced the Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. We were told that there wasn't enough space for bike lanes. In the ONE spot that we do have a bike lane for miles, a crack in the macadam has formed that is wide and deep enough to cause a unwary cyclist to crash.

Mind The Gap...

I reported the issue to ODOT, and they dispatched someone to investigate. I'm told that they will be fixing the crack, and repainting the bike lane. I'm keeping an eye peeled for the repairs.

Spoke at our county commission during public comment Tuesday to ask them to support any efforts locally to ensure traffic signals respond to bicycles. I am finally zeroing in on who I need to press in order to a) get signals to respond to bikes and
b) mark where in the lanes bikes should be positioned in order to trigger signals.
We currently have a big program for bicycles and pedestrians and improvements to the traffic infrastructure for them. One of the proposals is for the loop sensors in bike lanes at intersections.
I have nothing against that, but it ignores the sensors currently in the ground at intersections which should trigger for bikes as it is now. THEY need to be adjusted to work for bikes asap and there needs to be education for motorists and cyclists so that they are used by bicyclists. THEN spend time and money to purchase and install sensors in ground at bike lanes and intersections.
Next week, I plan to speak at public comment at Reno city council and whenever Sparks city council has their meeting, I'll speak to them as well. It's primarily the cities' traffic departments who are responsible for this information, so that's where I start.